Apple's New "Spaceship" Worthy of Religious Worship

It's rare that a conceptual rendering of an office building would seem right at home on the walls of a funeral parlor, a grandmother's kitchen, or a Scientology front. But since we're talking about Apple -- a company with a legion of devout, unwavering followers -- then it's not too surprising.

Whetting the appetites of the Apple employees of 2015 -- and making Google's fun-time campus look like a Chuck E. Cheese -- the Cupertino City Council released some artistic renderings and floor plans to the Apple Campus of the Future. Looking less like an office building and more like Hale-Bopp's tardy spaceship, the ringed building will house employees within its nearly 3,800-foot curved glass outer wall.

Inside the structure will be, according to Forbes, "a 45,000-square-foot fitness center, on-campus dining, and access to 8,900 above ground and underground parking spots." The roof will also sport an abundance of solar panels which will generate up to five megawatts of electricity for the campus. Outside, a grove of cherry trees, Redwoods, Ash, Maples, and Gums -- along with gardens and orchards -- will inspire productive brainstorms, meditative breaks, rejection of the world outside the campus, an unflinching devotion to the cult-...

Er, I mean, pleasant outdoor lunches.

Steve Jobs described the "Spaceship" design as such:

"It's a pretty amazing building. It's a little like a spaceship landed. It's got this gorgeous courtyard in the middle. It's a circle. It's curved all the way around. If you build things, this is not the cheapest way to build something. There is not a straight piece of glass in this building. It's all curved. We've used our experience making retail buildings all over the world now, and we know how to make the biggest pieces of glass in the world for architectural use. And, we want to make the glass specifically for this building here. We can make it curve all the way around the building… It's pretty cool."

And judging from this new photos, the campus is still being conceptualized with a divine leader in mind.

Not exactly the type of place you'd expect to produce BlackBerry or Windows Phone prototypes, is it?

Check out more photos on the Cupertino City Council's website and marvel at the sleek design worthy of the company's devices. But keep in mind that these are still only early renderings, and the people depicted in the photos will likely be wearing matching robes once the campus opens.